Today, it is Friday which means it is my turn to share my opinions and ideas which are leading me to set my 6-12-15 Daily Fantasy Baseball Picks. The values are based off of DraftKings and based off the contests that start at 7:05 PM EST.
Disclaimer: The below picks are subject to last minute line-up decisions and weather.
Starting Pitchers
Danny Salazar, SP, Cleveland Indians, $9,400
In terms of the quality of starting pitching available, the star power tonight is leaps and bounds above yesterday. There are several high-profile starters available to pick and choose from such as Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez, David Price & Madison Bumgarner. While these are all top-shelf pitchers for a reason, they also take up a very strong portion of the salary cap.
For my starters tonight, I decided to go with a couple of players that may not be household names but they are also capable of putting up monster numbers.
Salazar fits well within this guideline. Even though his 3.50 ERA/3.40 are respectable, they are not off the charts great either. However, Salazar has been a strikeout machine and has a K/9 of 11.82 this season and has scored an average of 23.2 points per start. This is slightly below Kershaw (24.2), Hernandez (24.8) and actually higher than Price (21.0) and Bumgarner (19.7) even though the price tag on these two is at least $800 higher than Salazar.
Michael Pineda, SP, New York Yankees, $8,900
Pineda comes into tonight averaging 21.5 Fantasy Points per start which is 0.5 points higher than Price (who is going at a salary of $10,700 for the night). Pineda has actually pitched better than his 3.33 ERA as he has a 2.40 FIP and has done so while piling up strikeouts as he has a 9.73 K/9.
Catcher
J.T. Realmuto, C, Miami Marlins, $3,600
Realmuto is more of a bargain play as he is only hitting .238 with 2 HR and a 66 wRC+ this season. However, he will be facing Rockies pitcher Kyle Kendrick who has a 6.16 ERA and has been boosting the fantasy value of opposing hitters all season. Also hidden in this year’s numbers is the fact that he has been hitting very well in June. Realmuto is hitting .357 over the first 7 games of June.
First Base
Prince Fielder, 1B, Texas Rangers, $4,700
Fielder has had a nice bounce back season as he is hitting .349 with 10 HR. While the AVG is going to go down eventually (his BABIP is 64 points above his career total) his HR/FB ratio is actually below his career total. Even with that being said, that slowdown is unlikely to come tonight as he has hit better at home than on the road and he will get to face Tommy Milone who has an FIP (6.76) that is much higher than his K/9 rate (4.23).
Second Base
Neil Walker, 2B, Pittsburgh Pirates, $3,700
Walker is the first of 3 Pirates players in my line-up tonight. It is my way of acknowledging the fact that Kevin Correia found his way onto a major league starting rotation. It’s very unlikely that this season will be unlike any of his other recent seasons as he had a 4.60 FIP in AAA. Another thing helping Walker’s value for tonight is that Walker has hit righties much better this season.
Third Base
Adam Rosales, 3B, Texas Rangers, $3,000
Rosales hasn’t had the greatest season as he is only hitting .234 with 3 HR and a 83 wRC+. However, he is available for very cheap, has hit better against lefties in his career and faces a lefty in Tommy Milone who has not been very effective at getting opposing batters out.
Shortstop
Brandon Crawford, SS, San Francisco Giants, $4,100
Crawford is on track to have the best season of his career as he is hitting .288 with 8 HR and a 138 wRC+. With the Giants playing at home, this could work to his advantage as he is hitting .309 with 5 HR at AT&T Park this season.
Outfield
Starling Marte, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates, $4,900
Marte is only hitting .251 this season but is still on the cusp of a breakout season. This season, his BABIP is 69 points below his career total and has an outside shot at a 30/30 season as he already has 12 HR and 11 SB. Even though he is only hitting .167 in June, he has also hit 2 HR in 9 games which make him a somewhat risky boom or bust player for tonight. With the Pirates facing Correia, this could set up Marte for a strong night.
Gregory Polanco, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates, $3,800
Polanco is only hitting .255 with 3 HR but he has managed to steal 16 bases. However, he has hit better against righties this season and he is having a good month of June as he is hitting .281 in 9 games this month.
Delino Deshields, OF, Texas Rangers, $3,800
Deshields has received plenty of opportunity for playing time which he has made the most of this season. Even though he has a modest .269 AVG with 0 HR, he has also drawn lots of walks which has allowed him to accumulate a .362 OBP and he has stolen 13 bases in his first 44 games. However, the struggles that Deshields have had have come against Righties and on the road.
The good news is neither of these applies to tonight’s matchup. This year, Deshields is hitting .317 at home and .349 against lefties.
All statistics found on fangraphs.com
All statistics through 6/10/15
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